Christian music is very important to me personally. I listened to a few good songs and decided that I was a Christian. Well, that’s not exactly how it happened, but it did help with my journey. Recently, in a conversation with a friend it got me thinking on the importance of Christian Music as a means of communicating with today’s youth.
Telling a story people can relate to
I heard an interesting sermon once about why Jesus came at a time before the radio, television, internet, email and cellphones. The speaker asked the question “Would it not be more efficient for Jesus to have come now when the message could be spread across the world faster through modern communication?” The answer was that spreading the Gospel was about one on one communication. Relating to the individual, their circumstances and relaying the message in a story they could relate to.
When Jesus spoke to a father he put his message in the way a father could understand, a shepherd as a shepherd story. When He spoke to fishermen, the Gospel was carried in a story involving fish or fishermen.
The importance of music
That sermon put a lot of things into perspective. How would Jesus communicate with today’s youth? For most teens, music is very important. Thinking back to my teen years, my friends and I shared a common taste in music. It was something we could talk about and share with each other.
I remember in 1988 saving all my money from a part time job and buying a CD player (of course, it would be another two weeks after that until I could buy a CD!). That that CD player in 1988 was about $300 for a basic model, but it was that important to me. I was a music fanatic at that point. I had stacks of albums (I have no idea where they are now) and I was on my way to building a massive CD collection with songs and artists who knew me.
For every album I owned, I can think of at least one track on that album that spoke to me directly. Uncanny, that some artist recording in a studio on the other side of the country or the world knew exactly how I felt at that moment. I could relate to what they were singing about!
If you have ever attended a music festival or concert, you notice that there are people of all ages and backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common. There is something in the words of a song that they relate to. This brought them there. They are fans of the artist performing and want to hear what they have to say. The music has their attention and when what the artist(s) have to say involves the Gospel, it becomes infinitely more powerful. For Christian music fans, our favorite songs are those which His Word speaks to us directly. As an example, whenever I hear the newsboys song “Something Beautiful
Youth and Christian Music
In this age of so many distractions for teens, music is the perfect medium to share the Word, to communicate one on one with someone. Music is very important to them. It is their time away in their room with their CD player or iPod, its how they express themselves on their myspace and facebook pages as fans of such and such artist or band. Its how they share thoughts with their friends and how they identify who they are without words or their own.
Christian music allows for that one on one communication that is so important for spreading the Word and through this medium, opens the doors to conversation with others. Fans of the same music can become friends, discuss songs, meanings and share the message.
Christian Music matters to youth because it teaches the Gospel through a story they can relate to and after all - isn’t that the best way to reach someone?
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